


On the Steps of the Palace

by flickerthenflare



Series: All Your Life You'll Dream of This [3]
Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Royalty, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-01
Updated: 2014-12-01
Packaged: 2018-02-27 16:25:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2699546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flickerthenflare/pseuds/flickerthenflare
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prince Blaine’s disguise is uncovered, and Kurt is torn between delight and guilt when that means he must accompany Blaine to the palace for damage control.</p>
            </blockquote>





	On the Steps of the Palace

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings for bullying/homophobia.

Kurt scans his recent contacts on his phone, thrilling a little that **HRHPB** is listed there, but scrolls past since he has the real His Royal Highness Prince Blaine sharing legroom in the back of a black service vehicle on its way from the McKinley High School parking lot to the palace. Kurt weighs his SOS options. Tina will be more subtle than Rachel in covering for him and less in appreciating his fairytale situation once he tells her, but further provoking Tina’s jealousy over her royal crush playing for his team might be more cruel than kind. He goes with his most sensible option: **Miss Mercedes Jones**.

Kurt angles his phone away from Blaine’s view while Blaine talks on his own. _Cover for me for the rest of the day?_

Mercedes responds almost instantly. _Tina has spare gym clothes that should fit you_.

Of course a slushie incident is the conclusion she draws. His life has reached that point. Not once has Kurt skipped school to avoid bullies or clean up after their mess, but it’s been tempting on the worst days.

Mercedes adds a moment later,  _I know you don’t care that they’re girls’ clothes_.

_I’ll reward you with the best story of your life._ Kurt replies.

_MY life or YOUR life?_

_Story of the century._ She’s going to think he’s had a break with reality if he doesn’t tell her in person. She already thinks he is too obsessed with royalty, and Prince Blaine in particular. So far, he has kept the story about meeting Blaine from all but Carole, who also saw the royal entourage at their home, and his dad when Carole insisted Kurt give him the full truth on why he cut work at the shop in the middle of a shift. His dad commented on Blaine’s naivety in following a stranger home. Carole teased his but tried not to overstep their newly establish relationship as family. He’s going to relish having someone his own age to gush to.

_I’m going to cover for you no matter what, but you should give me a hint. ~~~~_

Kurt starts and then erases several text messages in response.

_Prince Blaine came to dad's shop last week and now he's back._

_Karofsky shoved royalty. I hope he has regrets._

_The future king is wearing clothes I designed. Life goal achieved._

There's too much to explain beyond what will fit in a single text. He’s not going to waste his only chance to see the palace as a royal guest, and his last few hours knowing Blaine, by living in a different moment in time.

If he planned such things (actually planned, not just daydreamed), the circumstances of the trip to the palace would be more deliberate and less silly. In Kurt’s fantasies, there is no potential publicity crisis over a bully who needs anger management, and neither of them is potentially in trouble for Blaine’s failed disguise.

Blaine leans into Kurt, whether for comfort or necessity in the small space, and Kurt’s skin hums under the layers between them. The traitorous part of his that always wants more wonders why Blaine’s not-so-secret search for true love shouldn’t lead to him. No one has said it outright, but it's obvious that finding love is one of Blaine’s goals in sneaking out. Why not him?

_Let me figure out how it ends first,_ he responds.

He has two hours, and then Blaine will be gone. Two more hours with Blaine, and then life as usual will resume. He soaks up Blaine’s warmth while he can.

***

Blaine’s fretting shows more plainly than he would like. The threat of disapproval has that effect upon him. Without Cooper egging them on, _someone_ has to make bold choices, but he can’t just not mind like Cooper can. He obsesses over all the mistakes he makes and how each misstep could have turned out differently. The national attention since coming out has only made him worse about fretting over being perfect, or at least appearing that way. 

Wes and Sam take turns casting knowing glances in the rear view mirror as Blaine waits for his call to Cooper to go through. Cooper always makes him feel better about breaking rules. He shifts away from their watchful gaze and closer to Kurt.

“We knew sneaking you out of the palace was reckless. We’ll deal with the fallout,” Wes says.

Wes’ kindness makes him feel even worse.

There's a limit on the number of foolish stunts he can pull. They count once they become public knowledge. His coming out video that went viral is the first strike, even if he has no regrets about his decision to release the video without permission from his grandfather, the king. The confrontation with Karofsky might be another strike, or it might be a moment's worry that will seem silly in hindsight. 

Instead of counting to 10 to calm down, he counts all the ways this could go wrong.

Karofsky could talk in revenge, which wouldn't be a smart tactic, but Blaine doesn't know if he can count on Karofsky making choices in his own best interest. 

The crowd of students ignored them until Karofsky shoved him, but they don't need more than that to make a story. Facts aren’t necessary for gossip. Santana’s threat didn’t sound good either.

He's not worried about Kurt, who is squeezed next to Blaine in the back seat with Santana on Blaine’s other side. Whether by merit of being the first Blaine found to help in his kingdom-wide search, or by how eagerly Kurt offered his assistance in improving Blaine’s disguise, Blaine has a kindred spirit in Kurt. Kurt will keep his silence if Blaine asks.

Blaine’s patience between unanswered rings diminishes. He needs someone to tell him it’ll be okay and then he’ll stop worrying. Just a few words of assurance. He obsesses, but a few reassuring words and he can put it out of his mind. Finding Kurt on the first try felt like good luck; it's too soon for it to all come crashing down. He'll be stuck inside the palace again without more lives he can touch, and no happily ever after. The council could dawdle for years, if not decades, on allowing marriage equality if Blaine doesn’t force his grandfather’s hand by falling in love.

Blaine thinks of all the kids like Kurt whose lives he might not get to change. Kurt will be the one good thing he's done.

When Cooper picks up, it’s with the same overenthusiastic chatter that always accompanies Blaine’s rare instances of rule breaking. “How’s sneaking out? Have you inspired the masses yet? Eloped? Oh my god I bet it’s so much fun! It's been ages since I needed to sneak out! You're finally taking after me.”

“Cooper. Be subtle please.” He’ll settle for Cooper’s version of subtle. 

“Right, the less I know the better! Oh. Shit. That's less fun. Tell me of your plans in a way that makes them seem hypothetical! I’ll claim to know nothing later. That defense always works for me.”

The words Blaine rehearsed in his mind to explain the situation leave him. He pauses a beat to compose himself. “On a scale from non-issue to catastrophic, how does an account of a teen thug shoving me at a high school two hours away rate?”

“Depends. Was it over that tire shop kid? A spat over a hottie’s affections has been my saving grace often enough." 

Blaine can practically hear the wink.

"We can't do that," Kurt says vehemently. Kurt drops his phone and any semblance of pretending not to listen in. "You can't. Outing Karofsky is not an option.”

Blaine squeezes Kurt’s knee. "If we have to say anything, we’ll tell the truth," Blaine says, more for Kurt’s sake than Cooper’s. “There's no point in getting it twisted. He didn't know who I was. He didn't like what he saw. And if I were another student, he could have gotten away with it.”

"You'll look like a victim," Cooper warns.

"How is that worse?" 

"Think of your future. You know, as heir presumptive? Future king and all? You need to look strong."

“They’re not _mutually exclusive_.”

“Don’t get pissy at me, Squirt, all I’m saying is Emma’s never going to go for it.”

Blaine rolls his eyes like the petulant child he tries so hard not to be. “Get Emma, please. Unless you think I shouldn’t get Emma.”

“There could be footage of you getting into a fight?” Cooper asks.

“I didn’t touch him,” Blaine defends.

“That’s how it looks from every angle? That’s what every eye witness will say?”

Blaine rubs at his temples. “Um…”

“Oh, you definitely need Emma and some more reinforcements besides that. I’m on it.”

***

Kurt looks up attentively once Blaine is off the phone call Kurt pretended, poorly, not to listen to and sees Blaine’s brow furrowed and his lower lip stuck out in an endearing pout Blaine likely doesn’t realize he’s putting on. “Are you okay?”

Blaine frowns at his phone before tucking it away. “I made a deal that I don’t want to jeopardize,” Blaine confesses. “If I’m lucky, I haven’t screwed that up.”

Santana looks skeptical.

“You won’t be allowed to help anyone else,” Kurt guesses.

“That’s part of it.” Blaine admits, looking sadder than Kurt can stand, and all because he wanted to help Kurt.

“Unless you can get lonely gay outcasts to knock on the palace gate,” Sam adds.

“And don’t forget hot single gays hell-bent on teen marriage.”

Santana coaxes a laugh from Blaine with that. Kurt files away the additional confirmation that Blaine wants more out of his misadventures outside of the palace than just helping others. 

“Although that way we might get some who aren’t connected to the auto industry. Not that gay teen mechanics aren’t cool! Just rare. You’d think we would have found a lesbian first,” Sam says.

Kurt watches for the closeted guard’s reaction at Sam’s mention of lesbians. Santana sneers when he catches her eye. “We’re lucky we found one who even halfway fits the bill.”

“I –” Kurt wants to get married as much as he can want a hypothetical future that’s so stubbornly fuzzy in the details, but she could just as easily be insulting his looks. Rather than snip back at Santana that he could be _exactly_ what Blaine is looking for, He redirects toward Blaine. "I'll think of that day you showed up for the rest of my life."

The worry doesn’t disappear entirely from Blaine’s features, but Blaine smiles gratefully.

“It was a good day,” Blaine agrees. “I’m not going to forget it either.” He knocks his knee against Kurt’s. “Don’t let me stress you out with my drama. This should be an adventure for you. I suspect you’ll be as excited to see the palace as I was to leave.”

“I have always wanted to go. It’s on my bucket list,” Kurt admits.

Blaine grins even broader, if too forcefully. “Perfect! Let’s make some dreams come true.”

***

Upon arrival at the palace, Captain Beiste buzzes them in. Blaine’s sigh of relief as the gate shuts behind them doesn’t have the chance to leave his lips. In the spot he usually occupies when visiting Captain Beiste perches his mom.Blaine resolves himself to nerves a little longer.

He rests his hand on Kurt’s knee again. "I need out, please." 

Kurt tumbles out too fast, and Blaine follows, nearly colliding when they don’t give each other enough room. Blaine steadies against Kurt’s side. His free hand rises to his unusually styled hair. He tugged off the beanie and glasses as soon as they reached the car, but the mused hair and the clothes that help him stop looking so young stay and it’s like he’s a kid stuck playing dress up.

Blaine’s mom takes one look at Blaine and Kurt leaning into each other and announces, "I'm not falling for this trick so soon and your grandfather will not be convinced either.”

“Oh my god, Princess Mila!” Kurt squeals and covers his mouth with his fists. “I played with paper dolls of you!”

The princess tilts her head and blinks before accepting what he said and moving on with a, “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” that immediately reminds Kurt of Blaine. She offers her hand for Kurt to shake.

Kurt half-curtseys, half-bows. "You're like a fashion icon. I designed a whole paper fashion line for you." ~~~~

She flashes a smile at Kurt before refocusing on Blaine and sounding far sterner.

"I'm not fool enough to believe you found the love of your life at 16, no matter what display of love you plan to force our attention toward. And as clichéd as one of Cooper’s schemes! Could you act any more your age? It's a good thing Emma has been working so hard to remind everyone of it.” 

“So you already know…” Blaine’s fear of consequences rises. Anyone at the palace capable of long-term planning knows to be in her good graces as well as the king’s, and they don’t also have her for a mom. If she knows, then Blaine’s shoving match with Kurt’s bully is already a news item, and she didn’t hear it from him.

“Cooper and Emma’s ‘secret’ meetings are so obvious, and Cooper couldn’t have done anything this time, which leaves looking out for you. And Wes, you too, dear, but I’ll let your own mother be disappointed in you for whatever hand you’ve had in Blaine’s misadventures.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Wes says automatically from the driver’s seat.

"How did he find you, sweetheart?" She asks Kurt.

“The internet?”

The princess gives Blaine a meaningful look that makes him flush. “Well. I'm sure Kurt would love to see inside the palace. Just don't go far, Kurt; I'll have Blaine back to you shortly.”

Blaine gives Kurt’s hand an encouraging squeeze.“Wes can take you to meet Emma. I’ll catch up.” Blaine looks to Wes for confirmation.

His mom waits until Kurt gets back inside the car at Blaine’s coaxing and it pulls away before turning on Blaine with sharp amusement. "Did you forget you're 16?"

"How could I?" Blaine mutters darkly. Despite their lack of shared genes, his mom and Cooper share their sense of humor and force of personality. She laughs at him even when he’s in trouble and steers him to toward the steps of the palace.

“Your grandfather is not going to think you’re ready if you drag the first naïve boy you can find to him and demand a marriage blessing. You're not going to get married. You're not even going to date publicly because it's messy and will make you look even sillier than you are.”

“Kurt and I aren’t –” He should correct her assumptions. But one day he plans to do exactly what she thinks he’s doing now. One day hopefully soon. He starts again. “Why not? There’s no age caveat. My age is not part of the agreement.”

“Agreement? Sweetheart, puppy love doesn’t imply permanence, and your grandfather isn’t going to change laws on a whim. Did you really find him on the internet?”

“My access is still cut off.” Blaine tries to look innocent, which almost never works on his mother. It doesn’t work now either.

“Your grandfather may believe that you’re effectively grounded from going online, but I understand that the internet doesn’t shut down in your presence just because he wills it so. Half the palace is willing to be your accomplices if you so much as smile in their direction.”

Blaine swallows hard at the new layer of trouble he’s in. His father is far more likely to be the one that gives lectures, which makes the infrequent ones from his mother that much harder to withstand.

“I wasn’t concerned about bending the rules up until now because I thought you learned your lesson on recklessness. You can't ask that of anyone else your age. He has a life that you’ll disrupt. Be considerate of him. Don’t make him a national spectacle carelessly.”

Blaine nods wordlessly. He might already be too late. If the story breaks, Kurt will be a part of it.

“You know what it’s like to be on the receiving end of public attention. He won’t know what he’s getting into. He’s thinking of fairytales. You need to think of consequences.”

Princess Mila understands the side effects of a public relationship turned national spectacle too well. Blaine knows the press was unkind to his father when the scandal of his failed first marriage to Cooper’s mom first rocked the 24-hour news cycle. Cooper, the precocious byproduct of that marriage who had even the toughest critics wrapped around his finger once allowed into the spotlight, was his eventual redemption. To this day, Blaine’s father remains more distant from the public, content behind the scenes as the supportive husband or father who rarely says a word when he knows he’s being watched.

It’s not a future to wish on anyone. A new kind of guilt builds in the pit of Blaine’ stomach.

***

Brief glimpses in documentaries don’t give the full effect of standing under the giant dome ceiling of the palace entrance. Kurt’s feet have a hard time finding the floor. He wants to touch everything. He settles for a skim of fingertips along the wall.

Wes walks at a conscientiously slow pace and Kurt still trails behind. He turns as he walks and nearly collides with Wes.

“This is a dream come true.” Kurt belatedly realizes it’s an odd thing to say about someone’s home, and under the circumstances. He should justify it with an interest in architecture or history or… something that doesn’t mean lying to royalty.

Wes watches him in open amusement.

“Will I see Prince Blaine before I leave?” Kurt asks.

“I’ll make sure of it.” The look of amusement stays as they turn down one of many long hallways. “Don’t worry.”

Yet another dazzling figure Kurt knows best from gossip magazines materializes and Kurt just barely stops himself from squealing like he did for the crown princess.

"Ooh, it went so well you brought one back?" Cooper asks. "I knew Blaine had charm." Cooper winks at Kurt. 

"We're here to see Emma," Wes reminds him.

Kurt is too captivated by another royalty sighting to react to Cooper’s inappropriate commentary with more than a faint _hi_. 

Cooper regards Kurt with as much interest as Kurt does him. “16 year olds are so young these days.”

“He’s 17,” Wes corrects.

“Stop, you’re making me feel ancient. Kurt – is it Kurt? What did you do to make Blaine over the moon when he came home the other day? I couldn’t get him to pay attention to me at all.”

“Worst offense imaginable,” Wes says dryly. “Cooper, you can’t expect him to answer that. How would he know?”

“The fun is in the asking.”

Kurt watches Wes and Cooper fall into step together with more rapt attention than he’s given any reality TV program. He forgets studying the walls in favor of their every gesture. Cooper is exactly how he appears in interviews. Kurt always assumed it was a persona. It’s disorienting.

“Perhaps the next step will be finding reasons to bring people of interest here.” Wes hums thoughtfully. “We need a more reliable long term plan than pretending to teach Blaine how to drive, even if it did lead us to Kurt.”

“What about the rules, Wes? What about the rules?” Cooper teases.

“I see the appeal in breaking them for the right cause. Remind me I said this after I hear from my mother for leading my impressionable cousin astray and abusing the trust put in me to teach him how to drive.”

“Well, he learned,” Cooper laughs. He loops an arm over Wes’ shoulder and lowers his voice, but it’s easy enough for Kurt to hear as he trails behind. “You sure you’re doing okay? Are you and Blaine feeding off of each other’s worry like you always do? It’s more fun for me if you’re not both obsessing over getting in trouble. It’s a shame I can’t go with him instead. Whenever I’m involved, our parents suspect something is up.”

“I’m well aware of what I signed up for. So is Blaine’s mother, by the way.”

“I’ve never gotten in much trouble with her.”

“I’ve known you all my life, Cooper. You can’t lie to me.”

“Right. Well, better her than Gramps.”

Wes nods in agreement. “How’s Emma taking the news?”

“Like an adorably nervous little wreck. You think I would have adequately prepared her for minor crises caused by sneaking out and making a scene. She’ll recover. I think she has a plan.  She kicked me out of her office, though. Apparently I’m not conducive to thinking.”

They come to a stop outside of a closed door once Kurt is thoroughly lost within the palace.

"I think it best if Emma has a chance to talk to you in private," Wes says to Kurt.

“I know, I know, I’ve already been kicked out once,” Cooper grouses.

“Not about you.” To Kurt, Wes asks, “Are you nervous?”

“Oh, I’ve been nervous for like a week solid,” Kurt responds with a high laugh. Ever since he met Blaine in the Hummel Tire and Lube parking lot, his life has been surreal. Kurt is high strung to begin with, and add on top of that Blaine’s worry of a huge incident due to Kurt’s bully and insufficient disguise, and the excitement of seeing more royalty in a day than he’d expected to meet in a lifetime, and of course he’s overwhelmed.

Wes gives Kurt’s arm a reassuring squeeze. "Blaine is in charge of the choices he makes. Keep that in mind while you talk to Emma, please." 

With that, Wes raps at the office door and a nervous redhead responds. She takes in the trio, from Wes holding himself stiffly, to Cooper grinning expectantly, to Kurt flustered between them.

"Emma Pillsbury, I'd like you to meet Kurt Hummel. Blaine and I were visiting with Kurt today when there was that incident that Cooper spoke of. We’ll leave you alone to discuss." 

Wes wasn't there for the confrontation, but Kurt doesn't correct him. He files Wes’ self-implication away to ponder later as Emma shuts the door behind him and gestures for him to take a seat across from her desk.

“Welcome to the palace, Kurt. I expect Prince Wes may have mentioned to you that I deal with any and all public relations for the royal family? Prince Cooper relayed to me that there was an incident earlier today. I’d like you to tell me what happened.” She smiles kindly at him.

Kurt suspects this is a test he has to pass.He takes a moment to ground himself before speaking.Kurt had a two-hour car ride, when not distracted by Blaine, to consider what to say to Emma, and he made his decision.

“Blaine’s worried,” Kurt says measuredly. “But if you play this right, he looks like a hero.”

Emma’s polite interest falls into something sharper for a fraction of a second. “Just the facts, please. I’ll decide where to go from there.”

“Blaine intervened. It was entirely noble.” Kurt pushed Karofsky off Blaine, but that doesn't have to be the focus. "The student who shoved him threatened me." He threatened Kurt on a series of separate dates, but it's believable. The entire student body knows Karofsky hates him; they just don't care. Kurt’s not concerned with giving an exact account. How many times have lies been told in reverse - _I didn't mean to hit him, it's only in play, he's not hurt, its not a big deal_. The truth is whatever lie you can get away with. He can get away with making Blaine a hero.

“How do you fit into the narrative?” Emma asks.

As the rescued. The distress story that princes can’t resist. It’s not who he want to be to Blaine, grateful though he is for Blaine’s well-meaning intervention. Allowing himself to be framed as such to boost Blaine’s reputation, however, will put them on equal footing, even if no one else will see them that way.

"That makes you the love interest, doesn't it?" She prods when he doesn’t respond.

He can guess what she thinks, but he's not making himself the damsel in distress out of a desire to be one. His fantasies are more imaginative than that. His crush on Blaine factors only in his willingness twist the truth. 

“I’ll be whatever he needs.”

Emma winces sympathetically. “Don’t be that. Prince Cooper has had a string of – I shouldn’t tell you this. But high hopes are a side effect of meeting a prince. You’re not the first to say you’ll be anything.”

“I know we’re not dating,” Kurt clarifies. Kurt is excitable, but he’s not unobservant, and he knows what they royal family members they’ve come across so far assume, and what Blaine is not so secretly looking for, but he thinks Blaine would have told him if they were.

Emma gives him a small, knowing smile. “Do you wish you were?”

“I don’t want Blaine to get into trouble over me. That’s all.”

“Prince Blaine,” Emma corrects.

Kurt flushes. Maybe one day he could be Blaine’s dream guy. Maybe if Blaine stops seeing Kurt as someone he needs to help. Maybe if Blaine still needs Kurt after Kurt leaves the palace. Too many maybes to count on, but enough to kindle the high hopes Emma warned against.

Emma fusses with her perfectly arranged desk. “It’s not in your own best interest for this to become a story. The fame will be fleeting, and the spin will be unflattering to you. Being in the royal family’s good graces with be better long term.”

Emma sounds so pleasant that Kurt almost misses the thinly veiled threat.

“I’m not going to tell anyone.” Or at least no one who isn’t sworn to absolute secrecy.

“I think that’s the smart decision,” Emma agrees.

“But if the news breaks, you know my story will be the smart one to tell for Prince Blaine’s sake.”

Emma purses her lips. She doesn’t like it, he can tell, but she acquiesces with, “We’ll see about that if the time comes.”

***

Princess Mila’s good-humored, expansive lectures against sneaking out, twisting Wes and their security team into following his whims, taking advantage of anyone else’s loyalty, and dragging boys back to the palace finally trailoff once they reach the hallway leading to Emma’s office. She favors Blaine with a reappraising glance and all teasing in her tone vanishes.  

“Blaine, listen to me for a moment – no pouting, just listen. Next time, let someone with far more experience advise you. If you don’t think I’ll understand – although goodness knows your aunt and I got into enough trouble where boys were concerned – then Emma is somewhat younger and debatably hipper and full of unbiased advice. And then when the time comes, Emma will make sure everyone adores him and you together. Okay? With all the time and careful planning that entails. I want you to have the fairytale you're dreaming of. You just have to make choices that lead to happily ever after, not the kind with all the suffering. Don’t be so impatient that you get in your own way, and we’ll get you there.”

As soon as he nods his understanding, his mother knocks and then opens the door to Emma’s office.

“Emma, once you’re done letting my son know to plan his rebellions better, I’d like you to provide him with a copy of my itinerary.” She ushers Blaine into the office where Emma and Kurt both blink up at their sudden appearance.

Blaine accepts the itinerary Emma slides across the desk with interest. Hospital and orphanage visits. Fundraisers for charitable foundations. A speaking engagement at a university. He looks up to his mother beaming in self-satisfaction.

“Consider this your new chore list.”

"I get to help people?" Blaine feels a rush of relief he didn’t know he needed. Secrets aren’t his style. Neither is discretion. Internet searches and disguises and crossing his fingers that he won’t be discovered is not sustainable. Her events will get him off the grounds more efficiently than sneaking out ever could. It’s an amazing opportunityif he doesn’t screw up too badly along the way.

“Good intentions have always been your best feature.” She smiles fondly. “Keeping you here suits neither of our interests, and I can hardly ground you when you’re not supposed to leave anyway. So. Prove yourself. Don’t let your homework slide. Don’t go off-script. Don’t stress poor Emma out. Are these conditions you can live with?”

Blaine lets out a shaky breath. “Yes.”

She nods in satisfaction. “Emma, please provide remedial lessons on public appearances before I intentionally put him in the spotlight.”

Emma retrieves from her drawn a pamphlet called “Can You Behave in Public?” that she proudly displays on her desk. “I created a series for Cooper that we can revisit.”

Kurt cracks up and tries to hide it behind a hand.

She spreads the series of pamphlets out across her desk. Other titles from Cooper’s early years as royalty include “How Not to Cause International Incidents in 5 Easy Steps,” “Charming and Disarming: A Gentleman’s Guide to Making Everyone Like You,” and “Don’t Answer That! Leaving a Little Mystery to Make Them Want More.”

“It’s like the Cosmo of PR,” Kurt marvels with a weak chuckle at his own joke. “All it needs is ‘101 Ways to Tease and Please the Paparazzi.’”

“We have a variation on that theme somewhere in here.” Emma flips through the pamphlets.

“On that note,” Blaine’s mom says with a barely hidden laugh of her own. “Enjoy your lecture from Emma, sweetheart. Oh, and Blaine? See that Kurt has a way home if you haven’t thought of that yet.”

As soon as his mother is gone, Blaine takes Kurt’s hand and tugs him out of his seat and into Blaine’s arm for a tight, giddy hug, his chin tucked over Kurt’s shoulder. “Oh my god. Thank you.”

"I didn't make this happen." Kurt preens despite his protests. He did, though, in a way. They both grin like fools.

Emma clears her throat.

"Thank you to you too, Emma. Should I have told her? Please tell me she doesn’t have to know.” It’s too soon to be grounded again.

Kurt tips his head. “What else are you in trouble for?”

“We’ll monitor the McKinley High School situation and alert other members of the royal family if it becomes necessary,” Emma says. “You never can tell with these things when or how they’ll come out, so we’ll plan for every outcome. If you're lucky it won't become much of a story at all. And we’ll have a contingency plan if it does.”

“That’s it? Blaine asks. He envisioned a multi-hour ordeal, like the one with Sue Sylvester for his coming out video. “But what’s going to happen?”

Emma humors him with a tight smile and wide, sympathetic eyes. “There’s a multitude of possibilities and I can’t promise one over another. This could be a news blip, or a tiny moment blown out of proportion, or it could never come to life.”

Blaine frowns. To Kurt he says, “So I dragged you to the palace to say I don’t know what comes next.”

“You know I was happy to make the trip,” Kurt says lightly. “You get to help people. I go home having checked Palace Tour off my bucket list. Win-win.”

“The end?”

Emma sweeps the pamphlets back into a neat pile. “Kurt, I think it best if you come back if anyone tries to contact you regarding the royal family. Okay? In the meantime, I’ll call a car to meet you at the gate and take you home. Do you remember they way?”

“I’ll take him,” Blaine volunteers.

“I need one more moment with you, please. Kurt, feel free to ask for help along the way. I suspect Prince Wes and Prince Cooper are not far off.”

“Getting lost in the palace wouldn’t be the worst thing.” Kurt sways impishly.

Blaine squeezes Kurt’s arm as he passes. The realization that he doesn’t want Kurt to go hits suddenly. He has no reason to see Kurt again, and he can’t chance sneaking out when his mom just offered helping hundreds more people on the condition that he behaves.

Blaine rocks on his heels through Emma’s call to arrange Kurt’s transportation. Too much fidgeting is disrespectful, and he’s through with being seen as a child, but he hums with energy pent up ready to race after Kurt before he’s gone.

He’d assume the waiting is his punishment if Emma were capable of punishing anyone. He schools his features to look more attentive than he feels. The expression is fixed in place by the time Emma finally looks back up.

“Is prince not enough for boys these days, you also have to be a teenage hipster rock god?” She gestures to his clothes and Blaine is once again aware how not like himself he seems. “Pretending to not be you for someone you want to spend forever with is not a winning strategy.” Her amusement shows through the gentle chiding.

“Um. No, that’s not why...”

“Your mom would tell you the same if you didn’t have her otherwise occupied with all the disappearing for hours on end.” She gives him a soft smile.

“May I go?”

“Think about it,” Emma presses. “And don’t forget your pamphlets!”

Blaine tucks them under his arm. He forces himself to walk at a normal pace until he has Emma’s office door securely shut behind him, and then Blaine jogs and then full-on runs past portraits of queens and kings before his time.

Kurt endeared himself to Blaine more than anticipated. Kurt was supposed to be one in a long line of lives touched, but it all proved more difficult and Kurt will be the only one to share these circumstances now that he needs to give up sneaking out of the palace. He was elated when Wes’ internet search finally paid off with a mention of a mechanic’s gay son on an unfavorable Yelp review. He wondered who Kurt was before they ever met. He waited impatiently for the next driving lesson, leaving the palace behind and feeling so in charge of his own destiny behind that driver’s wheel when the opportunity finally came. After all that searching and hope poured into one person, he doesn’t want to let go.

He catches Kurt waiting on the palace step with thankfully no car around. Blaine skids to a stop. He has no plan once he has Kurt back in his sights. He just knows he’ll miss Kurt when he’s gone.

Kurt’s eyes squint when he smiles.

“I still have your clothes!” Blaine blurts. He can’t very well offer them back – no more public scenes for today, please and thank you – but he fidgets with the collar of his borrowed shirt.

Kurt laughs. Kurt’s delight is his favorite thing, and so easy to provoke. Blaine feels like the prince he’s meant to be when Kurt looks at him like that.

Blaine catches his breath for a moment and starts again. “Thank you again for the help. I don’t think my mom would have given me the opportunity without seeing how stir-crazy I’ve been going. I won’t be able to leave without permission again, but I can finally do some good. More than just meaning well and getting us both in trouble.”

“I meant it when I said I’ll never forget meeting you.” Kurt’s eyes shine. It feels like goodbye. Blaine doesn’t want to accept it any more than he did a moment ago.

“I won't need disguises, but I assume your fashion advice extends beyond those occasions. Can you still help me look older?”

“Does this mean I get to see your wardrobe?” Kurt sways coyly at the suggestion.

“Absolutely. Here.” Blaine grabs Kurt’s hand to tug him away from the palace steps, and Kurt even follows for a few before glancing back.

“The car is here.” Or close enough – it’s pulling around to meet them. Kurt steps back against Blaine’s pull back toward the palace. “I’ll resist raiding your closet. Consider your Marc by Marc Jacobs blazer lucky.”

“That one would be cute on you.”

Kurt preens, adorably delighted by either by the promise of clothes or the compliment.

“Forget the car. We’ll go back inside and let you borrow something of mine to make up for how I stole this.” Blaine gestures to the hip ensemble he still feels goofy in but doesn’t want to give back.

“Oh, I wouldn’t want Red Dye 40 anywhere near your blazer.”

“Your Red Dye 40 days should be over.” Blaine wants Kurt to look more convinced. He hopes he gave Kurt at least that much. He can’t stand the thought of sending Kurt back to that awful school if nothing changes for him.

“Send me pictures? We can do a whole virtual fashion show.” Kurt’s eyes sparkle at _virtual fashion show_. He reluctantly takes a few more steps down toward where the car is waiting with a little wave.

His time is up.  It hits him how far they came from Kurt’s hometown to here. Blaine rushes down the steps to close the last of the space between them and hold on to his new kindred spirit for just a second longer. His arms fling high over Kurt’s shoulders. Kurt catches them both.

Blaine squeezes as tight as he can. "Don't let me forget you."

Kurt promises that he won’t.

***

At school next day, as soon as he can get Mercedes away from the usual gossipmongers, Kurt blurts, “I have to tell you because everyone else cares too much.”

Mercedes takes his arm. “I wouldn’t say I’m known for my indifference, but go on.”

“It’s about a boy.”

“Oooh. I wouldn’t say I’m known for my advice on that either.” She pats his arm excitedly. “Spill.”

“How do I make him walk to talk to me? Where do I even start?” Demanding to see pictures of Blaine’s wardrobe seems creepy now that Blaine’s not standing in front of him offering with a smile. He needs an alternative.

“Nuh uh, back up; I need background. You are not getting away with telling me nothing! Mystery Boy doesn’t get to stay a mystery.”

“We met; he’s an appropriate age; he doesn’t go here.” Kurt bites his lip to keep from spilling the rest. His promise to Emma is fresh in his mind. The only way he'll mention his interactions Blaine is to draw negative attention away from the prince. A boy is newsworthy enough. Never mind who the boy is.

Mercedes rolls her eyes at him. “With this extensive information you’ve provided about your shared interests and past interactions, I’m going to suggest you ask how his day is.”

Kurt shakes his head. “Way too forward. If I ask a question, that presumes he’s going to answer.”

“Yes?”

“And it’s just left hanging there awkwardly. I need a statement that’s interesting, and relevant, and pithy.”

“And makes him fall madly in love with you? That’s a tall order for a short string of words.”

Blaine texts first and spares Kurt from figuring out how to begin.

_Next time, can you make me look older, but like subtly older and mostly still me?_

Two more come in quick succession.

_As soon as I come to anywhere near you, I'll let you know._

_I hope I’ll see you again soon._

Texts from Blaine become a semi-regular occurrence. Kurt doesn't want to shut off his phone in class or at the movies or during community theatre performances, and his attentions goes whenever he feels his phone vibrate. He updates Blaine on school – no whispered rumors about Blaine visiting school grounds and there are plenty of jerks but no more threats from Karofsky – and Blaine updates him on the whirlwind of public events he’s allowed to attend under his mother’s watchful eye and guiding hand. He starts as a mostly silent presence smiling in his mother’s shadow at ribbon cuttings and fundraiser luncheons for causes no one could object to. He sticks to her shadow, charming when he can be and silent when he can’t.

Kurt keeps Blaine’s identity to himself, but everyone in Kurt’s life figures out soon enough that Kurt has a secret even if they can't tell what it is. Mercedes is a gossip, so Tina and Rachel find out within an hour that Kurt has a mysterious boy at another school. They’re far more obsessed with the royal family than Mercedes and thus far harder to keep his secret from when his gossip trumps theirs.His dad regards the phone permanently within Kurt’s grasp with the mild suspicion of a parent who knows he's not getting the full story. 

"Is it a boy?" Burt asks. " You can tell me if it's a boy. My heart can take it."

"No. I mean, yes, but not like that."

"I've been preparing myself and practicing my supportive reactions to you obsessing over a real person this time."

"Prince Blaine is real and I'm not obsessed," Kurt says by rote.

"Jeez, Kurt, calm my heart a little. This boy’s your age?"

The mention of his father's heart pulls out the confession. "More or less."

Burt smirks at the reveal. "Ha, it is a boy... How loose is your definition of more or less?"

"Like a year."

The smirk fades. "Do you want to hear my warning on older guys?"

“I'm not a predator, jeez. There's nothing between us at all.” His crush has not abated with distance. It formed without ever meeting Blaine, how could a brief separation cause it to waver? They can spend hours messaging back and forth. Each message gives Kurt a little more hope that Blaine could feel for Kurt even a fraction of what Kurt feels for Blaine.

His phone lights up with an incoming text message. His dad arches an eyebrow in judgment. “Tell me not to be concerned.”

"We're not even in the same city; what could I possibly do with a phone?"

"Ah, hell, kid, I'm not going to explain it if you haven't thought of it yet.”

Kurt blushes beet red up to the tips of his ears. He knows the text from Blaine will be innocent, but he retreats up the stairs to his room to continue the conversation.

***

The ratio of articles Blaine features in shifts from brief human-interest stories in teen magazines and entertainment magazines to actual news publications. Blaine sings an a cappella lullaby to a sick child and goes viral for the second time since his coming out video. After that, Blaine steps out of the shadows and into his own. He appears on a children’s TV show as a special guest who sings along with puppets on the importance of writing thank you notes and Kurt is more mesmerized by the show that he’s been in a dozen years. Rachel loves to spam his inbox with that one.

Whether Blaine is having any luck with boys their own age doesn’t make the news.

Kurt’s hometown is too rural to get much attention on Blaine’s tour of charitable appearances. Months pass without an opportunity to Blaine, and then it’s winter again when Kurt comes home to a letter with a royal crest waiting for him at his place at the table. Kurt squeals so loud his dad comes running.

He has a letter from the palace in his hands. _The royal palace_. He fumbles for a letter opener because he’s going to keep this forever and he can’t very well tear open something nice with his fingers but he needs to find out what’s inside _now_.

“Warn a guy, Kurt. Jeez.” His dad watches from the doorway.

“Sorry, sorry, don’t mind me.” He bounces on his heels because his excitement has to go somewhere to keep from ripping the envelope. “Oh my god.”

_Dear Mr. Kurt Hummel,_ he reads with trembling hands his own name standing out on the page and it’s like it’s foreign to him. His name doesn’t feel the same when it’s on heavy stationary bearing the royal crest. It’s written in a delicate script, which makes it seem even more like a fairytale. Timeless.  He checks the signature at the bottom.

_Yours,_

_His Royal Highness Prince Blaine Devon of Westerville_

Blaine wrote to him. He signed it _yours_. Kurt tends to assume good things are a joke but none of his friends are this cruel or this talented.

It’s an invitation for a gala. He skims for the date. Valentine’s Day. Blaine invited him to a gala on Valentine’s Day. The letter is an invitation to a Valentine’s gala, and he’ll be Blaine’s guest. Surely all his waiting has paid off, or he can allow himself to hope a little. He’s torn between holding the letter to his heart and not touching it at all.

Behind the formal invitation is a folded note in Blaine’s youthful scrawl. _Would you accompany me? There won’t be any dancing, but there will be a chance to meet again in person. I’ll be disguised as a dashing prince._ Blaine follows his note with a smiley face that reminds Kurt of Rachel’s overenthusiastic e-mailed emoticons. He signs it as just Blaine.

Kurt has to go. He shakily opens his phone calendar. Like he could forget a Valentine’s Day Gala with the prince.

“Kurt, kid, can we talk?”

Kurt looks up from his letter. “Sorry I screamed. I promise to never be this excited again. Ever.”

His dad’s laugh comes out a short bark. “That’s not a promise I want.”

Kurt follows his father’s gesture to sit down with the letter still clutched to his chest.

“What’s this here?” Burt gestures to the letter.

“I have to go. I absolutely have to. I’ve been invited. That doesn’t just happen everyday.”

Burt takes in the official royal crest on the envelope. "It's him, isn't it?" Dawning realization transforms into displeasure. "Dammit, Kurt, all year you've kept this?" 

Kurt’s guilty expression confirms before words can.

“I thought we were trying to be better about telling each other the important things. You could have told me a million times before now that the boy you’ve been constantly on the phone with is the prince."

Kurt stubbornly stares back. Under other circumstances he might feel guilt for how his dad’s displeasure weighs heavily in the room. But he made his promises, kept them, and now he’s been rewarded with an invitation to the next best thing to a royal ball.

“You gonna let me see your phone?" Burt asks once it’s clear Kurt isn’t going to say anything in his defense.

"No," Kurt replies icily. There's not a single conversation even a more conservative parent could find objectionable, but they're his. 

"And I'm just supposed to believe.... What am I going to do with you? With this kid? His people know about this?"

"There's nothing to know." 

"You don't hide ‘nothing.’" 

"We stayed in touch. It’s not a big deal.”

“Like hell.” Burt runs a hand over his bald head. Exasperation radiates off of him. “Just because he’s going to be king doesn’t mean he can ask anything of you, you know.”

Now that’s a distracting thought he’s not going to have while his father is watching his every twitch.

“I have to go to the gala." Kurt can't fathom being forbidden after waiting so long. Panic rises at the fleeting thought. He's not staying home with Blaine so close after months of only text messages to remind him he didn't dream up meeting the prince. 

"We'll discuss it."

Kurt’s eyes flash. He'll sneak out if he has to. The rebellious thought comes with crystal clarity. If Blaine can sneak out of the most heavily guarded residences in the kingdom, Kurt can climb out of his second story window perfect for such misadventures. He'll accept being grounded from here to graduation. He'll give up his phone and remove all evidence that he knows Blaine. He can't think of a single consequence that could stop him. He's going. 

“Before you knew who he was you accused me of taking advantage of his youth.”

“That wasn’t –” Burt chuckles. “That’s really not what I meant.”

“He’s not as young as everyone says he is. I’m not as young as you’re treating me.”

His dad scowls, his gaze hard on Kurt and his own stubborn stance before saying, “Fine. You want to do this? Then I think it’s time we have a man to man talk.”

Kurt looks over his shoulder to see if his dad is really talking to Finn.

“About, you know, smart choices.”

“Oh dear no.” Kurt stands back from the table, ready to flee and never hear about _smart choices_ in that tone. He’ll just sneak out instead. Being grounded for eternity is a better alternative.

Burt anticipates Kurt’s escape attempt and pushes him back down. “Let’s be the mature adults we think we are. If there’s really nothing to tell then there’s no reason to look at me like I’m ruining your life. How does this guy treat you?”

“Like a friend.” Kurt sulks.

Burt sighs in response. “Kid, I don’t want to take away anything that makes you happy, okay? You seem better than you’ve been and I know we’ve got this prince to thank.”

Kurt offers a tight-lipped smile. He senses the _but_ coming.

“Your mom got really into them too, you know. Of course you do; you inherited all her stuff. It started back when you were just a troublesome bump that put her on bed rest. She was bored to tears at first, knowing she was stuck for months waiting for you to come along. The big royal wedding was happening around then and I set up the TV so she could have something to do. She said it was like a soap opera that runs 24 hours a day, and it’s mostly commercial breaks but you never know when the next episode is going to break. She talked about them like they were friends.

“And then when Prince Blaine was born there was this big hubbub. News articles on everything. This kid was all they’d talk about the whole pregnancy and of course your mom loved every moment. You’d think she’d be tired of hearing about babies.” He smiles at the memory. “They ran out of news real quick but your mom loved hearing them repeat themselves over and over again that the future king was on his way. Hypothesizing about all the amazing things this kid could grow up to do before he was even born. That’s a lot of faith to put in one person. All kids are is possibilities: it takes a while to figure out how they’re going to be. You had me thoroughly baffled and I wasn’t going to fuss over someone else’s kid.”

“And I just got more baffling.”

Burt smiles fondly. “17 years, kid, and I’m just scratching the surface.”

“We’ve got time,” Kurt says too forcefully. His dad’s health is never far from his mind.

“People aren’t perfect. If you think of him as an infallible superhuman savior, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. Soap opera characters are written to be likable. They're supposed to always meet your expectations. That's not how people work. One day this prince guy is going to screw up. Maybe even concerning you. I don’t want you disappointed over some guy you don’t know that you’ve idolized all year. He has faults even if you don’t see them yet.”

Kurt swallows his defenses. His fingers clench around the letter and he forcibly relaxes them so as not to bend it. Blaine is the most earnest person he knows. He can't imagine Blaine successfully deceiving anyone. He's seen with his own eyes that it doesn't work. Blaine isn’t the kind of person to intentionally hurt anyone. He is genuinely too good to be true. His only unforgivable fault so far is not showing Kurt that he cares for him in the same way, although that has a hurt of its own.

“I know well enough to know you’re going to do what you’re going to do, this shindig included. But be smart about it. Don't go in thinking this is your fairytale. Don't let your guard down. Don't forget you matter. Okay? And see if you can take a chaperone." 

Under normal circumstances Kurt would protest, but the request for a chaperone sounds like permission. He'll do anything to go. "I'll check." 

His father’s serious query dampens Kurt’s mood only momentarily. He's going to see the prince. He has until Valentine’s Day to prepare to once again see the boy who seemed like a dream. The question on his mind repeats: _why not me?_ Why shouldn’t he dare to dream that a Valentine’s date might lead to even more of a dream come true? And when they're finally face to face again, he'll ask the question aloud.


End file.
